Indo-US Conference on

‘Bioprocess & Bioproducts - Technology Trends & Opportunities’

- The Outcome Report
[27-28 November 2008: Hyderabad]

In view of the ardent need for apprising the Indian industry of opportunities in the emerging
technologies to convert biomass into liquid & gaseous fuels, chemicals, biomaterials etc., ‘Indo-US
Conference on Bioprocesses & Bioproducts - Technology Trends & Opportunities’ was organized
during November 27-28, 2008 in Hyderabad jointly by TIFAC, CII and Indo-US Science
&Technology Forum (IUSSTF).
Technical papers by six US and ten Indian experts from leading academia, R&D and industries
were presented & discussed in the conference encompassing the major technology themes viz. bio-
energy & bio-fuels (bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, bio-hydrogen etc.), bio-chemicals & biomaterials
(bio-transformation, bio-polymers, biosensors etc.), industrial enzymes etc. Around 100 delegates
from academia, R&D and industries across the country participated in the conference. The
conference was well structured to enable the delegates interact meaningfully with the foreign
experts.
The list of the US delegates and their area of expertise are given hereunder:
Dr. Raj Boopathy (biol-rrb@nicholls.edu), Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA – ethanol
from sugarcane residue

Prof. Mark Holtzapple (m-holtzapple@tamu.edu), Texas A&M University – ethanol production

through carboxylate platform

Dr. Mani Subramanian (manisubr@engineering.uiowa.edu, mani-subramanian@uiowa.edu),

Centre for Biocatalysts & Bioprocessing, University of Iowa – Microbiology, bio-catalysis,
fermentation & process development

Dr. Kiran Kadam (kkadam1@yahoo.com), Sriya Innovations Inc., Marietta, GA – Biorefinery for
fuel & chemicals

Dr. James Linden (James.Linden@colostate.edu), Colorado State University – Pretreatment &

enzymes for lignocellulosic bioconversions

Dr. Donald Johnson (dljgov1011@embarqmail.com), Industrial Biobased Products Consulting,

Hertford, NC – biofuels

Dr. Z Lewis Liu (Zlewis.Liu@ars.usda.gov), National Centre for Agricultural Utilization Research,
USDA, Peoria, IL – Microbiology

Dr Robin Anderson (Robin.Anderson@ars.usda.gov), Southern Plains Agricultural Research

Centre, USDA, College Station, TX - Microbiology

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The deliberations & discussions mainly focused on technology development works being carried
out at various R&D labs, industries and academia in US as well as in India towards development,
deployment and demonstration of enzymatic or bioconversion of ligno-cellulosic biomass into fuels,
energy and value-added products. The issues and major challenges, discussed in three technical &
two plenary sessions are summarized hereunder:

• Research needs for discovering enzymes, bio-catalysts with greater specificity that can be
obtained from plants, animals and microbial sources
• Development & demonstration of carboxylate platform for conversion of biomass into
carboxylic acid and subsequently to ethanol to obtain higher product yields.
• Development and deployment of biorefineries to refine lignocellulosic biomass into liquid
transportation fuels and a myriad of value-added bioproducts in the coming decades with
special emphasis on India
• Production of ethanol, butanol and bio-petroleum from glucose and cellulose by
metabolically engineered & genetically modified E. coli, Clostridium and yeasts
• Production of biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid, polypropylene terephthalate
(3GT), and polyhydroxy alkonate in industrial scale from fermentation of glucose by
genetically engineered microorganisms with special emphasis on plant biotechnology,
including plant genomics and breeding
• Importance of production of butanol and hydrogen through bio-catalytic conversion of
biomass
• Technological challenges in pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for separation of
cellulose from hemicellulose and lignin and step-wise process of hydrolysis utilizing fungal
and bacterial enzymes
• Development of ancillary enzymes that react on hemicelluloses functional groups to
improve overall rates of sugar production from lignocellulose
• Genetic modifications of microorganisms to generate fluorescent-based biosensor for
practical field applications
• Synthesis of silico metablic genotype through metabolic engineering
• Indian status of biodiesel production in commercial scale with the potential of various tree
borne oilseeds and challenges faced by the industries
• Bio-hydrogen production by phototropic bacteria through anaerobic fermentation of glucose
• Status and hurdles in demonstration of cellulosic biofuel technologies in US along with
potential availability of different lignocellulosic feedstock
• Processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to convert into liquid fuels

Outcome
The Conference addressed specific action points towards forging partnerships between Indian and
US Industry, institutions (R&D and academia) in both the countries for collaborative projects, joint
research activities and to explore the possibilities of transfer of readily scalable technologies in
active partnership with Indian & US research labs & industries.
With the objective of formulating concrete collaborative projects by Indian academia, R&D labs &
industries with their US counterparts, expression of interests have been received from fourteen
participants. Apart from Indian agencies seeking expertise from their US counterparts, two

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expressions of interest from US agencies (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO & Sriya
Innovations, Marietta, GA) for collaborating with Indian agencies were also received.
The expression of interest received for the following collaborative projects :

o Pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse/stover and organisms for its saccharification &
fermentation
o Biomass to biohydrocarbons by carboxylate route
o Lipase catalysts for biodiesel production
o Ligno-cellulosic ethanol
o Bio-catalytic processes, enzymes & immobilization techniques, membrane bioreactor for
producing stereospecific pharmaceuticals / intermediates, perfumery, speciality chemicals
o Thermophilic amylase
o Cultures of various clostridia species for process development & optimization for bio-
butanol production etc.
Follow-up Action
The interested proponents are being requested to prepare a 5-page long approach paper in a
structured format, as given in Annexure and submit the same to TIFAC for the proposed
collaborative action by the Indian researchers/companies/institutes with their US counterparts. 5-
page approach paper mainly seeks specific information viz. title of the project, expertise of Indian
collaborator in the area (patents, papers, technologies developed/transferred), expertise of US
collaborators, background of the proposed project, objectives, scope & methodology, timeframe and
expected outcome / deliverables. Before submission, the approach papers are to be finalized after
discussing with the US counterparts for inputs from the collaborating agencies regarding their
involvement and scope of collaboration. The final approach papers are to be submitted to TIFAC by
end December 2008 / early January 2009 for further action. On receiving the approach papers,
these would be further screened towards shaping and finalizing the exact project modalities,
detailed scope, budgetary outlay etc.

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 Annexure

Collaborative Project Proposal Format for Indo-US Projects

1. Title of the Project

2. Name (s) and Contact Details of the Indian Collaborator (s)

2.1 Expertise of the Indian collaborator (s) on the proposed work (indicate patents/papers and
technologies developed/transferred, if any, on the work proposed – not more than ½ page)

3. Name (s) and Contact Details of the Collaborator (s) from USA

3.1 Expertise of US collaborator (s) on the work proposed (not more than ½ page)

4. Brief background of the Proposed Project (max. one page)

5. Objectives (in bullets only)

6. Scope of the Project & Methodology (How to go about it? Max. one page)

7. Timeline of Work Elements (in tabular form)

8. Expected Outcome and Deliverables

Please submit the 5-page (max) preliminary proposal as MS Word document only
to biotifac@gmail.com by end December 2008 / early January 2009